POLICE PLANS: The new Director-General of Police, Neeraj Kumar has said that Goa being the premier tourist destination, his priority would be to strengthen intelligence network.

AJAY DEVGAN -- REGAINING LOST GLORY? Suite 1500 of Goa's Intercontinental Grand has a lived-in air, as Ajay Devgan has made it his home away from home over a 40-day shooting spell for the Rohit Shetty directed Golmaal.

TOWARDS A STATE BIOTECH POLICY: If everything goes well as per the plans Goa state would soon join other states in India to have its own biotech policy. Biotechnology (BT) is the global sunrise industry. The marriage of biology and biotechnology with informatics and information technology yields bioinformatics.

CZECH PRESIDENT URGES INDIA ON ECONOMY: (AP via Yahoo! Finance) The Czech Republic's president urged India to further liberalize its economy Tuesday, saying businesses from his country were keen to invest in the South Asian nation's energy, information technology and glass industries.

NEW PLANS BY AIRLINES IN INDIA: Low-cost airlines operating in the domestic Indian aviation scene are planning to offer services connecting cities and places earlier ignored by major airlines and even by the Indian railways.

OF TIATR AND TIATRISTS: Alex A A Fernandes aka Portrait Atelier informs that he has just completed his series on contemporary tiatriste. The whole process took about three weeks and was shot in his studios in Goa and Mumbai. They will be on display and sale at the Fontainhas Festival from November 26 till December 3.

Alex says he initially planned to display these pictures (of 34 various artist -- "who so graciously came forward to be photographed" -- at the IFFI (International Film Festival of India). He approached the authorities in charge of the festival to give these artist exclusive coverage in terms of gallery space at the INOX or the Kala Academy.

"I had decided to foot the whole bill for shooting the pictures plus framing them and printing an introductory brochure which gave a brief history for each artist. It soon became apparent that the people responsible for the organisation of the events at the IFFI didn't want to see me or listen to what I had to say. Maybe I have to brush up on my reading skills as I did not fully comprehend the meaning of the abbreviation 'IFFI'. International Film festival held in Goa for foreginers and out of state film personalities, at the expense of Goan tax payers. (I pay my taxes to the CCCP). Or maybe tiastriste (whom I consider very good actors) don't fall into the category of actors. Either way, I would like to invite all of you to see the portraits of these wonderful people, and would appreciate your feed back. Also please extend this invitation to your friends or any one who would like to see these portraits with a unique flavor of Goa."

KONKANI FILMS: Joao Manuel Pereira <jam_pereira@hotmail.com> asks: Can You tell me where I can find the original copies (DVD, VC, VCD)of the Konknni movies Amchem Noxim, Mogacho Anvddo, Sukhacem Soponn, Nirmonn?Â The ones available in the market - I have bought several ("good" copies, the dealers assure me) copies at Rs. 350 and above, but disappointing!. None of them is original, but copied from Doordarshan TV Programmes!

ELECTORAL ROLLS... DON'T KEEP US OUT: I need information on how to get my name back on the electoral rolls. My brother and I are non-residents in Kuwait and come down to Goa once a year on vacation. There are times our visits coincide with the election of the state or Panchayat, etc. During the last revision (I'm not too sure) our names were knocked out of the electoral rolls.

I've been told we can get our names back on the electoral and there is a procedure to be followed. I've enquired about this with the Mamlatdar's office in Margoa and I was told that there is an auspicious period once a year and it is only during this period that one can accomplish this task.

This really sounded absurd and ridiculous to me. The authorities can't be expecting the non-resident to come down only during this month to do what is their birth right. I'm sure many other non-residents are facing the same problem.

Can anyone suggest what the facts are and what is the procedure to be followed. I think this issue ought to be taken up with the authorities by the NRI grievances forums. Any assistance will be greatly appreciated. Jorge Gomes <Jorge@uasc.com.kw> in Kuwait

HISTORY HOUR: Xavier Centre of Historical Research's next History Hour is on Myths on Goa by Maria de Lourdes Bravo da Costa Rodrigues at Xavier Centre of Historical Research B. B. Borkar Road Alto Porvorim. Thursday, November 17, 2005 5. 30 pm. More details from Tel: 2417772; 2414971 delio@sancharnet.in.

Synopsis: The talk will present some misconceptions and wrong facts that circulate about Goa which can be labelled as myths, and have been publicised and disseminated, creating wrong notions about Goa. Some of these write ups are derogatory to Goa and her people. Special focus will be laid on the wrong information provided by world famous encyclopaedias, like, Encyclopaedia Britanica, Americana, Mankind and others.

KONKANI KANTARAM QUIZ: JoeGoaUk <joegoauk@yahoo.co.uk> announces the Goan old Konkani Kantaram Quiz (KKQ). Some quizzes have MP3 online. So don't miss out. Clue: All songs are from 1970s or 80s and all played (or still playing) on All India Radio Panjim (Akashvani Ponje Kendr). Says Joe: "And remember, if you are a winner and if I know your home or Goa address, you can expect suprises and I am not joking." See the latest quiz on joegoauk@yahoo.co.uk.

FROM NAIROBI, KENYA: I live in Nairobi, Kenya and studied in Goa for a couple of years... loved it and left after concluding my education. I feel rather homesick everytime I am away from Goa... and love to read the goings on in Goa...as it makes me feel part of it all... Thanks for all the valuable info. -- Paloma Fernandes <palomafdes@yahoo.com> Nairobi. Kenya.

CONCERN ABOUT FATAL ACCIDENTS: I wish to make point about the daily fatal accidents in Goa. I am interested in running a study on these fatalities and hope we can come up with an answer. I am ready to lead it but being based in the UK it will be difficult to do the ground work but I am able to lend all the assisstance. I was wondering if someone in Goa is interested to join me on this. Kenneth Barbosa <kbarbosa@hotmail.com>.

SOME THOUGHTS ON GOAN INITIATIVES IN CYBERSPACE: With Goanet I really feel like I'm in Goa. It's such a nice thing you have going... We need more Goans like you. Talking of Goans, my hats off to Ulysses Menezes and Gaspar Almeida of Kuwait for their lovely "Konkani Radio Goaworld" radio station (Goanet, Nov 8, 2005).

- I just couldn't believe that a few young men could do a thing that Radio Goa has been unable to do all these years. I just drank in our Konkani music for an hour or two before hopping off to bed. Radio Goa could very well have won the hearts of Goans by emulating these young men.... Last but not least, my hats off to James Monteiro for his tip. Rodolfo de Sousa, Frankfurt Germany.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------VERSE FOR THE YOUNG ONES... IN KONKANI
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POEMS, WITH THE EARTHY SMELL OF GOA [By Frederick Noronha]

'Geetbharatee, Baalgeetachem Pustak-1' or Nursery Rhymes Book 1 is the title of Tukaram Shet's book of Konkani songs, poems and stories. Printed in a simple and unpretentious style across 48 pages and a four-colour cover, this title is priced at a reasonable Rs 20.

In a Goa where the Konkani language (and languages like Marathi, on the grounds that it is "regional") has been enforced on primary students, except among those who can afford the high fees of unaided schools, this book is of relevance.

As students struggle to grapple with a medium of instruction that suddenly spread across mainly Diocesan schools in the early 'nineties (there are few private schools at the primary level apart from the diocesan schools), this book can be a useful aide to teachers in the classroom.

It contains songs like Kavlya Kakya (Uncle Crow), Makdachya Lagin (The Monkey's Marriage), Chanya Chanya (Mr Squirrel), and Bebya Bebya (The Frog). For a Goa which has increasingly moved away from Konkani for various reasons -- including high levels of emigration and the limitations of a small language-- this reminds us of our roots, and the reality at the village level.

There are many more poems and stories too. Some which this reviewer had to suddenly learn late in life, thanks to a seven-year-old daughter attending a nearby school. These include Sobith Bauli (The Pretty Doll), Ladru Pedru, Aaggadi (The Train), and others.

From the book, the strengths and weaknesses of the Konkani language, as perceived by someone who sees the need for looking at both sides of the picture, becomes more than clear. It's a great language in which to grapple with the Goan reality. Themes that come across have the strong, earthy smell of rural Goa... never mind that urbanisation is over-taking our state at breakneck speed.

Texts from the rest of India might not be as fascinated with fish. There are drawings of the sungot (prawn), kurli (crab), bangdo (mackeral), tamoso, pamplet (pomfret), mori (shark) and dalfin (dolphin). Texts from across the globe, particularly the West, would seldom talk in so much detail about the bullock-cart, the fox, the tiger, and even give an idea of how the coconut tree grows from a seed into a full-fledged tree that dominates the Goan coastline.

On the other hand, Konkani also has its clear handicaps.

Because the stalwarts of the Konkani movement haven't yet recognised the diversity and multi-cultural nature of the language, their attempts at pushing one-language, one-script have met with both resistance and slow speeds in catching on.

Apart from the challenge from the supporters of Marathi (actually, in large part, this is more of a caste war within Goa than anything to do with language), the Konkani campaigners have more recently also faced a challenge from the mainly-Christian backers of Roman (Romi) script Konkani in the past couple of years.

Konkani isn't yet standardised, and any attempt to push down one dialect as the 'standard' is likely to be met with resistance too. It would have helped if texts like Shet's had to take this reality into account, reflected more of the dialectal variations within Konkani, and also perhaps overcome somehow the script divide.

The situation is a bit unsustainable as things stand today. Besides facing up to caste-based difficulties, Konkani seems to be failing to take the religion-based plurality into account too. So while the authors of the mainly-Devanagari (the lone script accepted as 'official' till date) opt for the Antruzi variant (or dialect) of writing Konkani, most of its students in the primary schools of today's Goa are from regions like Bardez and Salcete.

So, there must be a way of studying Konkani as less of an alien language!

This, of course, is not to fail to appreciate the contribution of writers like Shet in putting together this slim volume. While an inside-backpage ad from the Government of Goa's information department might have helped subsidise cost, such works are still largely a labour of love. While the motives of some language fundamentalists in Goa have come in for questions, there are obviously others in the language camps in Goa who are still honest and well-intentioned.

Go for this booklet if you get a chance. Don't let it face the fate of most books in Goa -- that are unsung when first released, and then are out-of-print by the time they're noticed. -- Frederick Noronha, November 2005.

BIRDS SIGHTED 72 species: On examining this list, I realise it is impressive, but hardly a cmprehensive compilation. The birds listed here have been sighted only in the vicinity of the zor, and the hill surrounding it. A broader study of the countryside and the paddy fields will produce many more avian species. I have not birded here during the monsoons, so birds like the pied cuckoo, storkbilled kingfisher, plaintive cuckoo, larks and wagtails have all escaped mention. My apologies to them. Also from my own experience, there ought to be bluefaced malkoha, red spurfowl, blacknaped flameback, blackheaded cuckoo shrike out there somewhere but I have not had the good fortune to spot them.

The zor has always been a top notch birding spot in the north. It is mentioned in all birding guides to Goa, and draws many birders who seldom go away unrewarded. I have many wonderful memories of this place. --Harvey D’Souza <tarzan_1968ing@yahoo.com>

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